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Lightning Extend Ryan McDonagh to 3-Year Contract

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Harrison Smajovits | Last updated Dec 4, 2025 10:52 AM ET

In a stunning midseason move, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that defenseman Ryan McDonagh had been extended on a three-year contract. The 34-year-old defenseman agreed to a deal that has an average annual value (AAV) of $4.1 million.

The decision to extend McDonagh isn’t surprising. He’s set to be a free agent, and he’s a key member of the defense. However, the timing is. Before the season, the notion seemed to be that the Lightning would evaluate the situation at the end of the season . General manager Julien BriseBois said the goal was to “make sure we allocate right dollars to right players.”

The @TBLightning have signed Ryan McDonagh to a three-year contract! pic.twitter.com/ASwme9LBRJ
— NHL (@NHL) December 4, 2025

It looks like they already decided that extending one of their top defensemen was the best course of action. At this point, he likely retires in a Lightning sweater.

Other Lightning defensemen still have their future in flux. Darren Raddysh and Charle-Edouard D’Astous are unrestricted free agents (UFA) after this season. JJ Moser will be a restricted free agent. While the salary cap will increase, the Lightning are always faced with some level of constraint.

McDonagh was originally acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers during the 2017-18 season, and was re-acquired from the Nashville Predators after two seasons away before the start of last season. The Lightning traded him to Nashville following the 2021-22 season.

In 364 games down in Tampa Bay, he has 27 goals and 109 assists for 136 points. Before going down with an injury this season, he had been productive offensively with six points in 15 games. Defensively, he has 26 blocked shots and eight hits. Among all active NHL defensemen, he ranks first for career plus/minus (plus-290), third for blocked shots (2,037), ninth for takeaways (521) and 13th for games played.

McDonagh has been out since Nov. 8. His timeline is still somewhat up in the air, but he’s expected to be back this season.